Dr Matthieu Burnay comments on the European Court for Human Rights ruling that there is a ‘general system of violence’ in the Chinese prison system and how this will affect China's ability to extradite.
Despite having an extradition pact with China, Italy's Supreme Court has blocked China's request to extradite a suspect accused of committing economic crimes. This is the first such ruling since the European Court of Human Rights ruled there was a “general situation of violence” in the country’s prison system back in October.
Dr Matthieu Burnay, Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in Global Law at Queen Mary University of London, calls the ruling "a game changer". He says, "[T]he court argued there is not even a need to identify specific risks faced by an individual, but that the general state of the Chinese criminal justice system is considered sufficient ground to deny the extradition,”, adding that “these court decisions will definitely make it more difficult for China to use official channels of extradition”.
Read the full article in the South China Morning Post.